Hullabaloo

Most days I really enjoy reading Digby. Today, I wanted to stand up and applaud.

Read it

Action Alert from AMERICABlog

From AMERICABlog comes this:

ACTION ALERT: Tell the fundies to shove it
by John in DC - 4/17/2005 09:44:00 AM

I'm told that the religious right is inundating the Denver Post with angry letters because, egads, a gay writer wrote a beautiful article for them about a lovely gay wedding. And, as you can imagine, the religious right has reportedly unleashed the 7 plagues in response.

Read the article, it really is quite lovely, then write the Denver Post editors and let them know what you think of the article and their having published it. We need to stop America's Taliban from taking over our country one paper, and one community, at a time.

Greg Moore - gmoore@denverpost.com
Jon Wolman - jwolman@denverpost.com

Firing Lesbian Gym Teachers

From the NY Times (registration required)

Merry Stephens, the girls' basketball coach in Bloomburg, Texas, has been fired because she's a lesbian. This paragraph in the Times' story struck me as particularly ludicrous:

" Some parents of Stephens's players wanted her gone. Craig Hale, who owns an oil company, said he does not want a lesbian teaching his children and possibly influencing the way they think. His daughter, Kaitlyn Cornelius, played for Stephens last season and said she felt uncomfortable around the coach, though she said Stephens never did anything inappropriate.

" 'I had nothing against her as a person," Hale said, but if he stood up for "one lesbian" that would mean he was "for them adopting kids, and my morals and the Bible doesn't allow that.' "

Whiskey Bar: Kulturkampf

I read a lot of left wing blogs. I even enjoy some "moderate" blogs. But I haven't read anything lately that made me say "YES!" as much as this piece by Billmon did.

Here's the peroration:

"I don't want to be dogmatic about this, because I agree that values -- morality -- matters. It matters a lot. Which is why I was drawn to the line in the WSJ op ed where Dan Gerstein (the Lieberman flack) says:

" 'How did progressives move the country to enfranchise women, outlaw racial discrimination and protect the environment? We cast those issues in terms of "right" or "wrong." So why recoil from those tools now?'

"But it's an enormous non sequitur to jump, as Gerstein does, from those titanic struggles to talking about the effect a "Friends" episode might have on the average red-state mother. It cheapens the whole concept of civic morality -- and the sacrifices of those who fought, and sometimes died, to make the words "equal justice under the law" mean something in this country.

"The moral values I care most about are the ones that say the United States of America doesn't torture POWs, or plot aggressive wars, or sell tax breaks to the highest corporate bidder, or ignore the appalling injustice and misery of our current health care system. If that makes me one of the "cultural elites," so be it. But, for practical as well as principled reasons, I'd rather try to persuade the voters that progressives will defend those values than promise them phony remedies for problems that, in a free society at least, are beyond government's power to solve."

Go" read the whole thing.

And remember -- when "family" TV keeps you from seeing images like this or this - it's not because they want to protect you.

Fictionwise eBooks: 100% Micropay Rebate on New Laurell K Hamilton

If you're a fan of Laurell K Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series - here's a good deal:

Fictionwise is offering a 100% Micropay Rebate on A Stroke of Midnight, the just released n Gentry novel.

The Deepest Water by Kate Wilhelm

Comparison shopping:

The Deepest Water by Kate Wilhelm costs costs $4.49 (with Newsletter discount) at eReader.com

The same book costs $20.36 ($16.29 after 20% Micropay rebate) at Fictionwise

It's not like one is the hard cover edition....

Fictionwise eBooks: Lee Martin's Deb Ralston series

Hal's Own Murder Case, # 5 in the Deb Ralston series, is available in Multi-Format from Fictionwise with a 15% Micropay rebate

Today's Factoid: Lee Martin is apparently a pseudonym for Anne Wingate, as is Martha G Webb.

Andrea Dworkin, 1946-2005

Andrea Dworkin died.

I don't have anything to say that wasn't already said by Trish Wilson - so I'll just quote her:

"I just received word in e-mail that Andrea Dworkin has died in her sleep. I was never a fan of Dworkin's, but I know from reading a couple of her books that her comments about rape and marriage have been taken out of context. I really don't have much more to say about this than to let my readers know she has died. I figured that was newsworthy enough."

REAL Software - Free Offer for Visual Basic Users

Here's something useful for Visual Basic users:

"FREE OFFER FOR VISUAL BASIC USERS

"Because Microsoft has ended support for Visual Basic 6, REAL Software is offering Visual Basic users a new home-REALbasic. From now through April 15, 2005, Visual Basic users can get REALbasic 5.5 for Windows Standard Edition, completely free of charge.

"Simply submit your valid email address and country in the form below. Your REALbasic license key will be sent to the email address you provide..."

Go here to grab a copy

Merry Gentry Bundle at eReader.com

To promote tomorrow's release of the newest Meredith Gentry book, A Stroke of Midnight, eReader is offering all three of Laurell K Hamilton's previous Merry Gentry books for $15.00

A Kiss of Shadows
A Caress of Twilight
Seduced by Moonlight

If you've given up on Anita Blake after the mess called Incubus Dreams, these books might be worth a look.

From the Advocate

From the Advocate online:

" With the help of her lesbian lover, a woman in eastern China allegedly drugged her husband and then buried him alive in his own home to stop him from interfering in their relationship...

"... When Gu fell ill, they mixed sleeping pills with his medicine and fed it to him, causing him to fall asleep..."

Loa Ma! She's come back!!

I've seen this episode!

I love this episode!!

Fictionwise eBooks: Monday Mourning by Kathie Reichs

Are you a Tempe Brennan fan? Fictionwise is offering Kathie Reich's latest book in the Temperance Brennan series - Monday Mourning - with a 65% Micropay rebate. If you are a Buywise Club member, that brings the price down to an almost reasonable $6.80

Fictionwise April Fools Sale

On April 1, 2, and 3 (today's the last day) - Fictionwise is offering 35% off on any book with "April" or "Fool" in its title.

Here's a complete list